Light Within the Darkness
by ArSommers
Summary: ["The Reylo Chronicles", Book 1] AU: The final fight between Rey and Kylo (dedicated to all Reylo fans). [Please note: this story was written in 2016, so elements do not necessarily coincide with TLJ]


The air hissed as blue light met red; the age-old tale of good fighting evil, of Jedi versus Sith. Yet this time, Rey noted as she fought Kylo Ren, there was a different twist to their deadly dance.

Their first duel on the frozen tundra of the Death Star was filled with contempt- that had been almost five years ago. Now it felt like they were going through the motions. Despite this fleeting thought, Rey lashed out against her opponent, fueled by the vivid memory of Kylo mercilessly striking down his father, Han Solo.

With his arms raised in a defensive stance, Rey swung her lightsaber at Kylo's mid section. He quickly repositioned his three-pronged blade, easily dodging her blow.

 _You need a teacher_. The memory cut through her like a knife. She knew full well how much death and destruction Kylo had left in his wake over the years. And yet there was that moment a few days ago, when Snoke had decided she was too dangerous to be kept alive, that Kylo had chosen to deny his master and save her life.

Rey's resolve began to shake as they continued their fight in the forest. She'd heard General Organa speak of how her father, the Jedi Anakin, had turned to the darkness in an effort to protect the light of his life, Padme. Rey wondered if the reverse was possible. Could a Sith renounce the darkness to spare the light?

 _Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to anger. Anger leads to suffering._

There were times Rey had trouble controlling her own anger, which sprouted from her stolen childhood on Jakku to the stormtroopers' recent execution of Finn. She knew Kylo had no part in either of those circumstances, yet she still placed him high on the pedestal of blame. He may no longer be a part of the First Order, but to deny his involvement was to deny history itself.

Kylo took Rey's momentary distraction and turned it to his advantage. Reaching out with the Force, he pulled the blue weapon out of her grasp and slashed it in two with his lightsaber.

"I came here to speak with you," Kylo said, "Not to duel,"

Rey would have none of it. Feeling vulnerable without Luke's weapon, she called upon a more powerful ally. Straining with all her might, Rey wrapped the Force around Kylo and suspended him ten feet in the air, disarming him of his lightsaber and flinging it to the left, high above the treetops. If she couldn't use her lightsaber, he couldn't use his.

Rey had expected Kylo to fight back, perhaps even use the Force to push her into a tree so she would break her concentration and release him, but to her surprise he made no resistance. Perhaps he was already drained from battle, but she found that highly unlikely. Either way, she now had the upper hand, and she had the ability to finish this battle once and for all.

So why couldn't she do it?

"It's okay," Kylo whispered, his voice barely audible as a soft breeze blew past them. "I feel it too,"

"Liar," Rey shot back. "You don't feel anything. You murdered both your father _and_ your mother in cold blood,"

A pained expression crossed Kylo's face. "It's a decision I will regret the rest of my life," he said.

Rey pressed the Force further, seeping it through Kylo's skin and into his mind to search for any hint of a lie, but she came up empty. He truly believed every word he was saying. To make matters worse, it wasn't only regret that emanated from him; she felt tenderness directed toward her as well.

The Force had whispered in Rey's ear that Kylo had grown fond of her, but she hadn't taken much time to listen. As the unspeakable words grew louder with the passage of time, the Empire's army subsequently grew stronger, forcing Rey to spend every waking moment piloting ships or learning battle tactics. With politics splitting the First Order in two, causing Kylo and Hux to take opposing sides while Phasma joined the latter, the world became a much more violent place. "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't," Poe had once commented.

"You think I'm the devil?" Kylo asked, his voice thick with emotion.

"Stay out of my mind," Rey warned, clenching her fists in an effort to keep her palms from sweating.

"I don't want to fight you," Kylo said. "We're way past that,"

Rey felt an invisible hand slip around her waist, slowly lifting her into the air. At first she fought Kylo's manipulation of the Force, but eventually she allowed her muscles to relax as she let herself to be raised eye level with him.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice wavering. It was just the two of them in the forest, this time without the extraneous blasters or banter from either the Rebels or Empire. It had been a long time since they'd been alone like this.

"A balance in the Force," Kylo said, referring to the old prophecy. "I believe the only one who can put a stop to this endless war is you,"

"I'm not the Chosen One," Rey said.

She felt Kylo reach into her thoughts, and this time she willingly let him. With the Rebel base already located by the Empire, there was nothing left to hide. All he would be able to see was the pain and loss the First Order had created.

"You think you're nobody," Kylo spoke as if he were reading from a manuscript. "You blame yourself for the deaths of your friends,"

Rey winced. It hurt to hear the truth spoken aloud.

"And…even after all this time, after all you have accomplished, you still believe you're nobody," Kylo said. His expression softened. "In this you couldn't be more wrong. You're everything to the Resistance, to the universe, and to me,"

Rey's breath caught in her throat. Never in a million moons had she expected him to admit his feelings aloud. Kylo was many things: a villain, a murderer, a Sith. But perhaps these titles had weathered over the years to the point where she could see the inklings of light underneath all the darkness.

 _Search your feelings. You know it to be true._

Rey was speechless as Kylo gently guided her forward. She reached out to the Force, looking for some sort of assistance as to how she should respond, but all she felt was Kylo's presence enveloping her senses. And moment's later, all that mattered to Rey were Ben's lips on hers, a perfect union of the light and dark in all of the galaxy.

(Thank you all for the views/reviews/favorites! If you enjoyed this story, you can find the sequel on my main page, titled "Tracing Starlines")


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